The New Skill Divide: Cognitive Growth, Physical Decline, and Flexibility in an Automated World

We define worker flexibility as the ability to master various low-important skills, or being a “Jack of all trades”. Using data from the U.S. between 2003 and 2019, our empirical analysis reveals that automation increases the requirements for cognitive skills and flexibility while reducing the requirements for physical skills. These findings suggest two future workforce development paths: specializing in advanced cognitive skills or becoming a “Jack of all trades”. However, individuals or companies do not spontaneously increase flexibility; instead, they allocate education and training to enhance cognitive skills. This is because highly flexible workers earn lower wages, which is why such flexibility is not automated—a highly flexible worker costs much less than a flexible machine. Our research reveals the different mechanisms by which automation affects cognitive skills, physical skills, and flexibility, providing insights for individual career development and corporate training programs.